about barbershop - eBiz - Barbershop Harmony Society

Meet barbershopper, Chanticleer tenor Matthew Curtis
Matthew Curtis, a barbershopper from La Crosse, Wis.,
moved to San Francisco last summer to begin singing
tenor with Grammy-winning ensemble Chanticleer, a
group The New Yorker magazine called “the world’s
reigning male chorus.” The professional 12-man
ensemble, frequently mentioned in the same breath
as The King’s Singers, performs more than 100
concerts a year world-wide. They are known for their
astonishing sound and artistry as they present both
the male and female parts of a wide variety of classical
and modern works.
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When did your love of singing begin?
I sang for eight years in a boy choir in La Crosse, Wis. starting at age 7,
and then high school was filled with voice lessons and choral experience. In
ninth grade I became tenor section leader at the Cathedral of St. Joseph the
Workman Gallery Singers. I reluctantly majored in music education and vocal
performance in college, as I was looking at other choices. I quickly learned that
it was the right decision.
When did you begin singing barbershop? When I was 20, I started
singing tenor with the college quartet 4th Floor (10th in 2006 international
college contest, 12th in 2008) and with the La Crosse Coulee Chordsmen
in La Crosse, Wis. I also sang tenor then lead with Main Street Station (43rd
place in international competition in 2008). I started out of a love of choral
singing and as a social avenue. I was drawn to it because I immediately knew
it would refine my choral skills.
It took me a good couple
of years to learn the subtleties
of the barbershop craft.
Unfortunately, I have little time
or vocal energy for barbershop anymore with our grueling schedule, but I still
actively listen to barbershop CDs and follow competition scores. I also record
learning tracks for choirs at www.chanttracks.com and would love to venture
that business into the barbershop community.
Had you always wanted to belong to a group like Chanticleer?
It really has been a lifelong dream come true—I had been a fan of Chanticleer
since the boy choir. I knew I had the type of voice they were looking for, and
between the age of 19 and the point when I was working on a masters degree
at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities (focusing completely on opera), I
auditioned three times. Chanticleer was interested, and it was a very real possibility
should a spot open up. I finally got the call last year, when I was singing
for the Santa Fe (N.M.) Desert Chorale over the summer.
Did your barbershop experience give you any kind of edge
in your tryouts? Barbershop played a crucial role in my acceptance into
Chanticleer. I always had a good ear, but I listened in terms of intervals with
my own part; with barbershop, I learned to listen in terms of a tuned chord. It
made me a much smarter musician, overall. The biggest difference it made was
the ability to get up on stage and perform the music while trying to achieve the
maximum emotional involvement. This is not something that I had done much
Chanticleer, 2010
before singing barbershop,
and it has helped
with my opera experience
in addition to what
Chanticleer does.
“Barbershop played a crucial role in my acceptance into
Chanticleer. It made me a much smarter musician.”
Main Street Station, 2008
MILLER PHOTOGRAPHY
How is barbershop
different from your other vocal training? Opera and barbershop
techniques span opposite extremes of vocal placement and intent. With Chanticleer,
I would say I generally use technique similar to barbershop. However,
it was the diversity in technique throughout my studies that has made me a
flexible singer. I owe where I am today to my experience singing barbershop,
and I doubt I would be here without that experience.
How is singing in a classical
music ensemble different?
How is it the same? It
is actually very much the same. The
differences are the diversity of styles we do in Chanticleer, which requires much
more vocal flexibility. The sheer amount of singing is much different—our
concerts are a 2+ hour experience night after night, where a quartet only gives
a 35-minute show or sings two pieces on the contest stage. We spend a ton of
time working with languages, both foreign and English. This includes all the
same diphthong and word stress work as barbershop. Chanticleer’s harmonies
and tuning are much more complex in most pieces. When my fiancee first saw
me with Chanticleer, she was amazed at how similar we look entering and
exiting the stage as I did with my quartet. The Barbershop Harmony Society
should be commended for the professional etiquette promoted on stage, as it
is a very real expectation.
Has your barbershop background influenced the way you approach
music with Chanticleer? There is very little barbershop experience
among the other guys. It is a topic that is brought up when I might relate
my experience to an artistic decision. Chanticleer has sung some barbershop
style before, and is always open to singing something if it fits into our concert
program. I definitely use my experiences to shape some of the music that we
sing. The guys respect barbershop a lot, although they don’t know very much
about its subtleties. It is nice to share my experiences. �
www.chanticleer.org
March/April 2010 • The HARMONIZER 17